Medicine resources from Reach

Find resources which can help if you are considering becoming a medical student.

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Core values and attributes

The Medical Schools Council (MSC) has produced a document setting out a non-exhaustive list of the core values and attributes needed to study medicine.

Take some time to familiarise yourself with these, and try to reflect on these when undertaking any work experience, voluntary work or career exploration – how did the medical professional demonstrate these attributes and values? Remember, you will already possess lots of these skills and attributes too! They can be drawn from many activities - they don't need to always come from medical-related work experience. Think about how your hobbies and extra-curricular activities have helped you build up these skills and values – this will be useful later down the line for your application!

General Medical Council - Good Medical Practice

The GMC's Good Medical Practice document outlines what it means to be a good doctor. It describes the expected values and professional behaviour of practising doctors in the UK. We cannot stress how useful it will be for you to read this document! Not only will it give you an understanding of what is expected of practising doctors, but it will also really help when it comes to the Situational Judgement section of the UCAT and at interviews later on! Again, use your Reach Reflective diary to try and identify any examples of observing these behaviours/values/expectations in medical professionals. If you haven’t had work experience, think about interactions you have had with your GP, doctors or healthcare professionals in the hospital or medical students at Reach events – they should all be following this guide too.

Let's talk about the health lecture series.

Let's Talk About Health and Disease is a series of plain-speaking public lectures run annually at the University of Edinburgh from October through March.

The talks are aimed at senior school pupils interested in studying medicine, veterinary medicine or the life sciences at university, as well as interested members of the general public and health professionals.

The series allows scientists pioneering new research at the University of Edinburgh to share their latest ideas and discoveries with the public and allows attendees to advance their knowledge of health and what happens in disease.

Each lecture includes a Q&A session and refreshments; many also include the chance for S4-S6 pupils to meet young researchers in the field through lab tours and interactive workshops.

Massive Online Open Learning Courses (MOOCs)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses aimed at an unlimited number of people, which can be accessed online through certain online learning platforms. They allow you to learn in a flexible way and can help you to expand your knowledge and connect with educators across the world!



MOOCs don’t involve as high a level of studying as your school subjects; they can take up a few hours per week and normally run for between 2-6 weeks. However, you can access all the materials in your own time at a time that suits you best.

A high proportion of MOOCs are free for you to access and learn. Some courses will charge additional fees for you to be given an accredited certificate of participation. However, to broaden your own understanding of different topics in medicine and healthcare, you DO NOT NEED TO PAY extra for this. You can simply keep a note of any courses you do and make reference to these in your personal statement if you find they are relevant to this.

There are several MOOCs on a variety of healthcare and medical-related topics.

Some courses may have certain start dates, so check each for details if interested.

Medic Insight Dundee

Medic Insight is a programme run by medical students at the University of Dundee, and provides a work experience programme for S4 and S5 school pupils interested in a career in Medicine! Have a look at their Facebook pages, and like and follow them to see updates and more information!

Other online health and medicine Courses 

As well as the MOOCs, listed above, there are other online courses that you can take part in for free to enhance your understanding of key concepts in medicine and healthcare.

Virtual work experience

Pre-Medicine programmes

Pre-Medical courses are designed to help applicants who are interested in studying medicine but may not have met the desired entry requirements for the MBChB. If eligible, students can apply to study a one-year course that is designed to equip learners with the fundamental knowledge in science and provide a basic introduction to the study of medicine. Successful completion of the pre- medical course will lead to entry to the MBChB programme at the applicable university.